Ecuador · 6 days · Easy to moderate
6-Day Luxury Galápagos
For travellers who want the Galápagos without a cabin on a moving boat. Top hotel category on each island, private guiding rather than a shared group, and a genuinely free day built in — because six days of scheduled excursions is a lot, and the best afternoon of most trips is the unplanned one.
Short answer
6-Day Luxury Galápagos is a 6-day, 5-night Ecuador itinerary starting in San Cristóbal airport and finishing in Baltra airport, for private. It starts from US$3,595 per person sharing a double room in our standard hotel category, in low season. On top of that sit the mainland–islands flight and US$220 per adult in Galápagos park fees, which no operator is allowed to include. Every day of it is published below, and we rebuild it around your dates at no extra cost.
Highlights
- The best available hotel on each of the three islands
- Private naturalist guiding — your pace, your questions, your photography stops
- Kicker Rock and Los Túneles, the two standout snorkelling sites in the archipelago
- A free day on Santa Cruz: Tortuga Bay, a dive, a boat charter, or nothing at all
How this trip moves
5 nights, 3 places to unpack
The thing most itineraries hide is how much of your holiday is spent getting somewhere. Here it is up front.
Where you sleep
- San Cristóbal 2 nights
- Isabela 1 night
- Santa Cruz 2 nights
The shape of it
- 1 The day you get there
- You sleep here
- Flight
- Boat
- Road
Day by day
- Day 1
Welcome to San Cristóbal
Private transfer from the airport. The sea lions on the municipal beach are the first thing everyone photographs and they are worth it.
- Change of base
- Flight
- Meals
- Not included
- You sleep at
- San Cristóbal
- Day 2
Kicker Rock
Snorkelling the channel at León Dormido, with hammerheads, Galápagos sharks and turtles in open water. Afternoon at the interpretation centre or Punta Carola.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- San Cristóbal
- Day 3
Isabela — Los Túneles
Crossing to Puerto Villamil and straight out to the lava arches: turtles, seahorses, reef sharks and nesting blue-footed boobies at close range.
- Change of base
- Boat
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Isabela
- Day 4
Santa Cruz — tortoises, lava tunnels, Darwin Station
Across to Santa Cruz and into the highlands for wild giant tortoises and the underground lava tunnels, then the Charles Darwin Research Station.
- Change of base
- Boat
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Santa Cruz
- Day 5
Your day
Nothing scheduled. Tortuga Bay is a forty-minute walk and one of the great beaches anywhere. Or a dive, or a private boat, or a long lunch. We will have options ready and no pressure to take them.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Santa Cruz
- Day 6
Baltra airport
Private transfer across the island and the Itabaca ferry for your mainland flight.
- Change of base
- Road
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- — last day, you fly home
What is included
- Five nights in the top hotel category available on each island, with breakfast
- Private National Park–licensed naturalist guiding throughout
- All private transfers and inter-island crossings
- Snorkelling equipment
- Airport assistance on arrival and departure
What is not included
- Flights to and from the islands
- Galápagos National Park entrance fee — US$200 per adult, cash on arrival
- INGALA transit control card — US$20
- Meals not stated, travel insurance, tips
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements. The Galápagos National Park entrance fee (US$200 per adult, US$100 per child under 12, cash on arrival) and the INGALA transit control card (US$20, bought online before your flight) are collected from you personally and cannot be included in any operator’s price. Budget US$220 per adult on top of the figure above. Full breakdown →
When to do this trip
December–May for calm water and visibility; June–November for marine life.
Good to know before you book
- Group size
- Private
- Starts
- San Cristóbal airport
- Ends
- Baltra airport
- Pace
- Easy to moderate
- Passport
- Valid at least six months beyond your arrival date. Entry requirements →
- Insurance
- Not included and not optional in our view. Medical evacuation from the islands or the rainforest is expensive.
- What moves the price
- Hotel category, private versus shared guiding, your dates, and party size — a solo traveller pays the room, not half of it. We break the whole thing down in the Galápagos price index.
- If we have to change something
- Weather, park regulations and flight schedules occasionally force a swap. We tell you before you travel, not on the day, and we replace like with like.
Who this trip is not for
We would rather lose the booking than sell you the wrong week. These are the reasons people come back from this itinerary disappointed, and all of them are predictable before you pay.
Anyone who thinks luxury means the Maldives
The best hotels in the archipelago are excellent small properties, not five-star resorts. There is no butler and no spa the size of a hotel. What the money buys is space, quiet, better guides and shorter queues.
Anyone who assumes money removes the rules
The park fee is the same, the two-metre distance is the same, and the licensed naturalist is compulsory at every site. Nobody gets a private landing.
Anyone who wants to be active all day
This itinerary is paced. If you want to hike a volcano and dive the same week, the multisport trip is the one.
If any of those describe you, tell us — there is almost always a version that fits, and it is usually not more expensive.
Questions about this itinerary
How long is the 6-Day Luxury Galápagos?
6 days and 5 nights, starting in San Cristóbal airport and ending in Baltra airport.
How difficult is it?
Easy to moderate. Group size: Private.
When is the best time to do this trip?
December–May for calm water and visibility; June–November for marine life.
What extra costs should I budget for?
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements. The Galápagos National Park entrance fee (US$200 per adult, US$100 per child under 12, cash on arrival) and the INGALA transit control card (US$20, bought online before your flight) are collected from you personally and cannot be included in any operator’s price. Budget US$220 per adult on top of the figure above.
What you meet on this one
Not a promise — these are wild animals. But these are the species this itinerary is actually built to reach, and each one has its own page with the exact sites.
The full Galápagos wildlife encyclopedia →Which month for which animal →
If this one is not quite it
